Focuses on how second language (L2) readers go about decoding word forms. The article describes a psycholinguistic experiment investigating how advanced Finnish speakers of English as a foreign language pronounced monosyllabic pseudo-words based on common real-word orthographic patterns in English. Results indicate that even advanced L2 readers'…

Shows that underlying first language (L1) and second language (L2) lexical similarities between typologically unrelated languages can benefit L2 vocabulary learning. The article's comparison of the use of motion verbs in English by Chinese- and Japanese-speaking learners indicates an advantage for Chinese speakers, whose L1 lexicalizes motion in a…

Investigates the revision strategies of Spanish native-speaker undergraduates writing in two different discourse types and in two time conditions by analyzing postwriting interview protocols. Results suggest that revision strategies may be initiated by past learning experiences and respond to the perceived nature of the task and the current…

Overviews the use of the Internet in second-language instruction with special attention given to learning, teaching, research, and assessing and using the Net. (77 references) (CK)

Discusses politeness strategies used by native and Dutch speakers of Spanish, contrasting the act of making requests by these two groups of speakers. One of the article's conclusions states that native speakers of Spanish are more direct in their requests, and that nonnative speakers attempt to sound less face-threatening and less offensive. (23…

Presents the results of research examining the argument that the use of a pidgin or creole will interfere with students' subsequent acquisition of the standard language. The study evaluated a preschool program in Papua New Guinea that uses Melanesian Pidgin English as the medium of instruction for students who later attend an English-medium…

Examines factors having a bearing on boy/girl performance in second-language classes in the United Kingdom. Findings indicate that boys attach less importance to learning a foreign language than girls do; girls are more conscientious about their schoolwork than boys are; expectations for boys and girls are different; and students value the…

Examined phonemic awareness and pseudoword decoding in kindergarten and first grade Arabic native children. Hypothesized that because Arabic speakers learn to read in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)--a language structurally distinct from the local form of the language they grow up speaking--linguistic differences between the two varieties would…

Examines how two groups of computer students reacted to tasks involving different degrees of reflectivity. Results indicate that students found almost all tasks, including the reflective ones, helpful and relevant although the intervention group studied disliked the reflective tasks, especially those at the metacognitive level. (15 references)…

Examines a computer-assisted approach to writing in the English-for-academic-purposes classroom that incorporates and integrates information from written texts, electronic and video sources, and a live lecture. The article argues that such an approach introduces the student to the academic culture of an Australian university. (eight references)…

Presents activities that demonstrate how productivity software can be used to motivate beginning middle-school foreign- language students (or elementary-school foreign-language- immersion students.) The exercises employ word-processing tools to increase language fluency, spelling, and agreement skills. (Author/LRW)

Reviews pedagogical claims of computer assisted language learning (CALL), multimedia applications and outcomes, and new research in second language acquisition. Findings reveal that computer mediated communication gives second language learners the opportunity to enhance their learning experience. (88 references) (Author/CK)

Investigated how intermediate students of French interacted with a computerized second language reading gloss from three perspectives: (1) the relationship between the group's choice of program options and their comprehension; (2) individual user styles; and (3) student perceptions of program effectiveness. (31 references) (Author/CK)

Examines differences in the discourse roles of men and women in dialogs of textbooks for teaching Greek as a foreign language to adults. Focuses on whether such sexist differences can affect negatively the pedagogical value and goals of textbook dialogs. (22 references) (CK)

Compares the empirical performance of C-tests with other representatives of the family of reduced redundancy tests--classical cloze, cloze-elide, multiple-choice cloze--using the Duisburg English Language Test for Advanced Students as the criterion for empirical validity. Findings reveal that the C-Test emerges as the most economical and reliable…